(This is the first post here, but a continuation of a series started at my personal blog at tenonandspline.com/blog)
I’m not what you would call a “neat freak.” However, I do try to keep things generally organized and find it near impossible to work in a cluttered shop. Not only do I find it technically difficult to work in an unorganized mess – I find it hopelessly depressing as well. Consequently, when the shop is cluttered I will typically avoid doing any woodwor...

Not “green” in the environmental sense, mind you…but green in a very literal sense. I’ve spent literally months planning out most of the details of my new shop, since before they broke ground. One of the features I was most anxious to include that I was unable to have in my shared garage space was an honest-to-goodness central dust collection system. One of the earliest decisions I needed to make: metal or plastic?
Metal of Plastic?
I first read Sandor Nagyszalan...

OK, so maybe not exactly a “monster,” but the old Woodtek 3HP double-bag dust collector I bought sure does sound like one…and appears to live up to its 2100CFM (free-air) rating.
I’ve finally finished the main duct work runs and over the weekend I cut the hole from the shop into the external “dust collection closet” and ran the 6” main through. As I had feared, the dust collector argued mightily against being confined in such cramped quarters. ...

Countertops
I’ve been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets—getting them both organized and out of the garage where they’re making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn’t finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren’t perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they’re not pr...

If you read my last post you might recall how I decided to purchase an X10 “Powerflash Interface” to test out as a controller for my dust collector. My skepticism about how the unit worked turned out to be well-founded. The Powerflash device sends an X10 “on” signal when 6-18VDC is applied to the contacts—but once the voltage is removed, the unit immediately sends an “off” signal. What I was looking for was a way to use a single momentary switch to to...

(This post is based on a LumberJocks.com forum thread.) After completing my dust collection system installation, I turned to my air cleaner, the Delta 50-875. I had decided to install it just above my table saw—about 2/3rd’s of the way along the wall, where the intake would be in line with the front door and the outfeed inline with the ceiling mounted vent fan. After reading “Woodshop Dust Control” this seemed like the ideal placement and this location had the added be...

Over the past month I found very little contiguous time to make progress on the shop setup. Consequently I never felt like I had made significant enough progress in any given week to warrant a new post. While I’m still quite some distance from the finish line, I finally feel like I can actually say, once again, “I have a shop!”Dust Collection ControlsI installed a half-dozen doorbell buttons around the shop, under bench tops near power tools, on the wall by the bandsaw and u...

My original design for the shop included multiple compressed air outlets scattered about the shop. At the heart of this system would be a 60gal Ingersol-Rand 2-stage compressor providing at least 15 SCFM@90psi. Now months later, I’ve significantly revised and downgraded my plans. Part of it was financial, but most of it was a realization that all that I really needed was to be able to use my nail guns without the hassle of dragging out the compressor every time and tripping over hose.Re...